March 22: more outcasts... is there a pattern here?
Ruth 1:15-4:12
Amplified Bible (AMP)
15 And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.
16 And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. [a]Your people shall be my people and your God my God.
17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you.
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more.
19 So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred about them, and said, Is this Naomi?
20 And she said to them, Call me not Naomi [pleasant]; call me Mara [bitter], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
2 Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. Naomi said to her, Go, my daughter.
3 And [Ruth] went and gleaned in a field after the reapers; and she happened to stop at the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you! And they answered him, The Lord bless you!
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose maiden is this?
6 And the servant set over the reapers answered, She is the Moabitish girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and has continued from early morning until now, except when she rested a little in the house.
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, Listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but stay here close by my maidens.
9 Watch which field they reap, and follow them. Have I not charged the young men not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.
10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should notice me, when I am a foreigner?
11 And Boaz said to her, I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people unknown to you before.
12 The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to take refuge!
13 Then she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord. For you have comforted me and have spoken to the heart of your maidservant, though I am not as one of your maidservants.
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here and eat of the bread and dip your morsel in the sour wine [mixed with oil]. And she sat beside the reapers; and he passed her some parched grain, and she ate until she was satisfied and she had some left [for Naomi].
15 And when she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.
16 And let fall some handfuls for her on purpose and let them lie there for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned. It was about an ephah of barley.
18 And she took it up and went into the town; she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also brought forth and gave her the food she had reserved after she was satisfied.
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you. So [Ruth] told [her], The name of him with whom I worked today is Boaz.
20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord who has not ceased his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is a near relative of ours, one who has the right to redeem us.
21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said to me also, Stay close to my young men until they have harvested my entire crop.
22 And Naomi said to Ruth, It is good, my daughter, for you to go out with his maidens, lest in any other field you be molested.
23 So she kept close to the maidens of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, My daughter, shall I not seek rest or a home for you, that you may prosper?
2 And now is not Boaz, with whose maidens you were, our relative? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
3 Wash and anoint yourself therefore, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4 But when he lies down, notice the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down. And he will tell you what to do.
5 And Ruth said to her, All that you say to me I will do.
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her.
7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then [Ruth] came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
8 At midnight the man was startled, and he turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!
9 And he said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth your maidservant. Spread your wing [of protection] over your maidservant, for you are a next of kin.
10 And he said, Blessed be you of the Lord, my daughter. For you have made this last loving-kindness greater than the former, for you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
11 And now, my daughter, fear not. I will do for you all you require, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of strength (worth, bravery, capability).
12 It is true that I am your near kinsman; however, there is a kinsman nearer than I.
13 Remain tonight, and in the morning if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, good; let him do it. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will do the part of a kinsman for you. Lie down until the morning.
14 And she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another; for he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
15 Also he said, Bring the mantle you are wearing and hold it. So [Ruth] held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and laid it on her. And she went into the town.
16 And when she came home, her mother-in-law said, How have you fared, my daughter? And Ruth told her all that the man had done for her.
17 And she said, He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said to me, Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.
18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he finishes the matter today.
4 Then Boaz went up to the city’s gate and sat down there, and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken came by. He said to him, Ho! Turn aside and sit down here. So he turned aside and sat down.
2 And Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.
3 And he said to the kinsman, Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, has sold the parcel of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4 And I thought to let you hear of it, saying, Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then say so, that I may know; for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I am [next of kin] after you. And he said, I will redeem it.
5 Then Boaz said, The day you buy the field of Naomi, you must buy also Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the dead man, to restore the name of the dead to his inheritance.
6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest [by marrying a Moabitess] I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.
7 Now formerly in Israel this was the custom concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm a transaction, a man pulled off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the way of attesting in Israel.
8 Therefore, when the kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, he pulled off his sandal.
9 And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from the hand of Naomi.
10 Also Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife to restore the name of the dead to his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his birthplace. You are witnesses this day.
11 And all the people at the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you do worthily and get wealth (power) in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem.
12 And let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.
Footnotes:
- Ruth 1:16 “Ruth is a prophecy, than which none could be more beautiful and engaging, of the entrance of the heathen world into the kingdom of God. She comes forth out of Moab, an idolatrous people full of wantonness and sin, and is herself so tender and pure. In a land where dissolute sensuality formed one of the elements of idol worship, a woman appears, as wife and daughter, chaste as the rose of spring and unsurpassed in these relations by any other [human] character in Holy Writ.... Ruth’s confession of God and His people originated in the home of her married life. It sprang from the love with which she was permitted to embrace Israelites.... The conduct of one Israelitish woman [Naomi] in a foreign land was able to call forth a love and a confession of God like that of Ruth.... Ruth loves a woman, and is thereby led to the God Whom that woman confesses” (J.P. Lange, A Commentary).
Outcasts: sermon by James T. Batchelor
Outcasts - every culture has them - people who are not welcome. Sometimes people are outcasts for reasons beyond their control. Other times, people intentionally seek to become outcasts.
Back when I was a child, African Americans in the South were outcasts. They had to use different restaurants, drinking fountains, restrooms, and so forth. They could not help it that people judged them by the color of their skin.
Then there are others who seek attention and become outcasts. Instead of dressing for success, they dress for shock value. They intentionally use language that makes others uncomfortable. They behave in ways that offend the culture around them. It is their goal to seek power over the people around them, even if it is only the power to make people uncomfortable.
The Bible also had its outcasts - people who were not allowed to participate fully in society. In his last sermon to Israel, Moses said, [Deuteronomy 23:3] "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever." The Moabites had hired a false prophet who seduced them into some pretty serious sin as they were about to enter the Promised Land. For that reason, anyone from Moab was an outcast.
Lepers were also outcasts. The laws of Israel said, [Leviticus 13:45-46] "The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.' He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp." Their disease kept them outside of society.
The Old Testament reading for today tells of a Moabite outcast who entered Israel. The Gospel for today tells of outcast lepers who were also restored to society.
The Old Testament reading for today is the beginning of the story of Ruth. Her story is one of the great love stories of the Bible. All you need to do is change the name Ruth to Cinderella and the name Boaz to prince charming and you are good to go. I encourage you to read the whole book of Ruth. It is only four chapters long and it is good reading on several levels.
First of all, it is just good drama. Ruth's profession of love for her mother-in-law is just plain first rate literature: Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you."
Second of all, the book of Ruth gives insight into the culture of the time. It gives us insight into family life, financial dealings, and courtship rituals.
Finally, by constantly referring to Boaz as the kinsman redeemer, this story just begs us to compare the love between Boaz and Ruth to the love between Christ and His bride the church.
The thing of it is that Ruth was from Moab. As a Moabite she was an outcast. The book of Ruth tells how God is merciful and brings outcasts into His family.
Today's gospel also has its outcasts - ten lepers. Perhaps no disease mentioned in the Bible is a better metaphor for sin than leprosy. Easton's Bible Dictionary describes the disease this way:
This disease "begins with specks on the eyelids and on the palms, gradually spreading over the body, bleaching the hair white wherever they appear, crusting the affected parts with white scales, and causing terrible sores and swellings. From the skin the disease eats inward to the bones, rotting the whole body piecemeal."
I imagine that lepers became used to people turning away in horror - perhaps even running away in terror. The life of these lepers must have been truly wretched. Today's Gospel tells us how Jesus is merciful and restored these outcasts to society.
Although Ruth and the lepers were outcasts of society for different reasons, they, along with us, are outcasts from God's kingdom for the same reason. Ruth, the lepers, you, me - we are all outcasts from God because we are all natural born sinners. David described our sinful condition well when he said, [Psalm 51:5] "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." We are all sinners at birth and we only add to our guilt throughout our lives.
One of the insidious things about our sin is that our very sinful nature disguises our sin. Ruth knew that she was an outcast because her culture was different from the culture in Israel. The lepers knew they were outcasts because they saw healthy people every day. Sinners do not have that advantage. Everyone is a sinner and so we have no sinless people in our lives. This world has no sinless standard for us to use as a measure of our own depravity. It is the nature of the sin of pride to believe that we live in a perfectly healthy and normal world. In fact, when we judge others by the warped standards of the world we see around us, we develop a feeling that in some way we are superior to those around us. We don't notice that we are only fellow outcasts in a sinful world.
It is not until the Holy Spirit shows us God's law that we begin to see that we are wretched sinners. When the Holy Spirit shows us our reflection in the mirror of God's law, we see that we have a serious disease. Even while we live physically, our spirits are rotten with sin. Just as a leper is a dead man walking so a sinner is a damned man walking. When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and shows us the truth of God's Law, we see that we are outcasts, sinners, spiritual lepers. As spiritual lepers we can't enter the city of God and so we are doomed to spend our eternity in hell.
After the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the law and we finally begin to feel the guilt we have so richly earned, he opens our eyes and shows us the truth of the Gospel. When Jesus healed those ten lepers physically, he was making his way to Jerusalem to take their spiritual leprosy to the cross and not just their spiritual leprosy, but from the time he shed blood at his birth to the time his blood was poured out at his death, he carried the spiritual leprosy of the entire world. In Jerusalem he would offer himself and would become the cure for this disease by sacrificing himself on the cross. His resurrection from the dead offers this cure to the world.
Whenever we talk about things that are unclean - whether something is simply physically dirty or whether it is ceremonially unclean, there is one common characteristic. When you expose something that is clean to something that is dirty, the clean thing becomes dirty. One rotten apple will eventually rot a whole barrel of apples. A little yeast in some bread dough will soon grow to fill the whole lump of dough. Dirty things corrupt clean things.
Jesus is the exact opposite. In His case, He comes in contact with corruption and cleans it up. He met the unclean lepers and He made them clean. He takes the filth of our sin into himself and He makes us clean. He takes outcasts and makes them His own.
Comments
Post a Comment